The Next Phase of Life
by AprilMeeha
Summary: This is the sequel to my story Life. So, check that one out first.
1. Life

Life is a crazy thing.

When you are young, you are happy to simply dream. You have no worries, life is really simple. You eat, you use the bathroom, you play, you sleep. Things are great.

When you are a teenager, you dream of being older. You see how much freedom you can have, and you can't wait to get your hands on it. No more school, no more bullies, no more homework, no more chores. Life is so much simpler. You can stay out as late as you want, you can do _whatever_ you want.

Once you hit your twenties, you are scared shitless. You have no clue what you are doing with your life, you have minimal income, and your bills keep stacking up. You are almost reduced to tears when you are called "Ma'am" or "Sir" for the first time, and you run home and hide under the covers the first time you see kids running around a store and catch yourself thinking 'Damn kids!'.

Life doesn't stop, just because you need a breather. Life keeps going. Either you live in denial, and act like your still a teenager. Or, you grab hold, and try to keep up.

Hold on tight, because here comes the next phase of life.


	2. Did We Really Order Pizza?

**A/N: Hey guys! Here is chapter one! Aren't we all excited that I couldn't wait to start writing this?! haha**

**I decided that for this story, I will do only one POV a chapter, unless any get really complicated (like the Em/Rose break up) I think it is working out. I will make sure you know who's POV it is in the beginning.**

**Also, since I got a couple complaints during Life, I am not centering this story, so enjoy the boring normal stuff. haha j/k I don't really care, either way. :)**

**Ok, go, read, enjoy! Review pls!!!**

**~AP**

BPOV

I thought that things would be weird when Edward and I got a place together. I thought I would miss living with and seeing the best people of my life every day. I was wrong.

There were no fall-outs. No fights. We didn't move on with our lives, and forget each other. Quite the opposite really. I didn't miss them at all, because they didn't give me a chance to!

Edward and I moved into our new apartment on a Saturday. Sunday morning, Alice and Rose were at our place bright and early, carrying coffee, and they dragged me out of my warm bed to go shopping. Edward gave me a credit card - which I argued against - and told me to buy whatever I wanted - I argued that, too. Rose had stolen Emmett jeep for us that day, so we would have plenty of room for everything we would buy. The most I had planned on getting on this shopping trip was a couch, a t.v. stand and a dining room table. And what did I come home with? A t.v. stand, shower curtains, towels, plates, silverware, pots and pans, a whole bathroom set, 4 new sets of bedsheets and comforters and such, and several table cloths. And receipts for a couch and dining room set that were to be delivered.

I had been able to pull the girls away from the more expensive things, but still, all this crap adds up. I was terrified that Edward was going to freak out when he saw how much we got, but he just laughed. Apparently, he had purposefully neglected to tell me that the credit card he gave me, was his fathers. Carlisle and Esme wanted to pay for these things for us as an apartment warming gift. He insisted they would probably be surprised the bill wasn't larger.

It also became a regular thing for everyone to hang out at our place. They said that they welcomed the change in scenery, but I am fairly certain it was just for the homecooked meals. Those four couldn't cook toast if they had to.

So, for the past 4 months, Edward and I have lived happily in our new apartment. Since Alice's belly is getting big, we decided the band should take a break. So, this week is going to be our last gig for a while. It is sad to see it all getting packed away, but we all have a lot going on in our lives.

Now, here I am, relaxing in my wonderful apartment with my amazing boyfriend. We are just watching a movie and enjoying a calm night in without our crazy little family. When there is a knock on the door.

"We didn't have any plans tonight did we?" I asked, as Edward paused the movie.

"I don't think so." He shook his head and started to get up.

I glanced down at my crappy sweats, hoping the group wasn't surprising us. Alice and Rose would flip if they saw me dressed like this. I am fairly certain that they think they threw these sweats away already...

"Eddie! Baby Bro! What's happenin'? Where's the little lady?" Emmett's voice boomed down the hall to me.

"Emmett what -" Edward was cut off.

"BELLAAAAAA!" Emmett screamed, like Mother's Day, after we had seen Street Car Named Desire. Only he used my name instead of Stella.

"Emmett?" I called back to him, leaning over the arm of the couch to try and see him.

Emmett flew into the living room, with a confused Edward following behind him.

"What's up, people?" He asked, flopping into one of the chairs in our living room.

"We were watching a movie." I said, pointing at the t.v. that was still paused.

"Ooo. What is it?" He got really interested in it.

"Goblet of Fire." I shrugged.

"Very good choice." He made himself comfortable in the chair. "Well, why is it still paused?"

"Uh, Emmett, why are you here?" Edward asked.

"Can't a man visit his favorite brother and his woman?" Emmett asked, acting like his feelings were hurt.

"Did Rose throw you out again?" I laughed.

Every now and then, Emmett pisses Rose off, and she kicks him out. Alice and Jasper have been banned from allowing him to stay there, since he can just hop the balconies and get back in.

"Maybe." He studied the bottom of his shirt, rubbing a finger over a stain.

"What did you do now?" Edward sighed.

"I'm not supposed to say." He pouted.

I laughed as Edward resumed his spot next to me.

"That bad, eh?" I smirked at him.

Emmett just pouted as Edward started the movie again, and I returned to my ogling of Cedric Diggory.

When the movie ended, I went and grabbed a pillow and blanket for Emmett, and he set up the couch as his bed, while Edward and I crawled into ours. See, I told you I haven't had a chance to miss them all yet.

"Oh, yea, guys!" Emmett yelled. We waited for him to continue.

"Guys?!" He yelled again, and I started laughing.

"Yes, Emmett?" Edward growled.

"Rose said to tell you guys to be at our place tomorrow night around five, and be prepared to spend the night." Yea, Rose sends messages with Emmett when she banishes him to our place.

~*~

The next day, Edward and I packed a few things in my old bag I used for bar nights. Emmett was showering, and I went to make lunch for us. We sat and watched t.v. while eating.

"Em, did we need to bring food or anything?" I asked during a commercial break.

"Uh, no, I don't think so. I think Rose is taking care of the food and all." He looked a bit nervous.

I shrugged and finished my sandwich. We all just wasted time while we waited for time to leave. Emmett was sprawled out on our couch watching t.v., Edward was on the computer and I cleaned. Finally, it was time to leave, so I ushered the boys out, locking the door behind us. We walked the couple blocks to the building and waited for the incredibly slow elevator in silence. Emmett was fidgetting, which just made me laugh. He must have really pissed Rose off.

We walked in, and Rose flew over to hug me.

"He didn't tell you, did he?" She asked, glaring at Emmett.

"Tell us what?" I glanced at Edward, he looked as confused as I felt.

"Good." She nodded, then we moved to the living room.

Alice and Jasper were already there, and the place was crazy. Rose had put up every piece of party decorations she had. There were Happy Birthday banners, Happy New Years banners, Merry Christmas'. I even saw Happy St. Patty's day things and Happy 4th Of July things.

"Rose, what is going on? It looks like a party store threw up in here." I laughed, sitting next to Alice.

"I was just in the mood for a party, so I decided to throw it all up." She lied, then grabbed Emmett and ran to the kitchen.

"They apparently have some sort of news for us. That is what this is all about. Emmett apparently almost told one of us today, so Rose flipped out at him, saying they had to tell all of us together." Alice explained as we all watched the hallway.

Emmett and Rose came back before I could say anything else. Emmett was carrying a couple bowls of chips and dips and Rose had beers for Emmett, Edward and I - she and Jasper already had some, and Alice already had a water. She handed them out and the two of them sat on the couch - Edward and I had taken our spots on the floor and Alice and Jasper shared the chair.

"What is going on Rose?" I asked, looking between her and her extremely nervous husband.

"Ok, we were going to tell you all later, but might as well just get it out in the open." She sighed.

We waited patiently.

"Emmett and I are moving." She blurted out.

"Uh, ok. That's great." I smiled, looking at Alice, confused. Why were they so nervous about telling us this?

"Is that all?" Alice asked, obviously just as confused.

"Well, yea. We just didn't know how you guys would feel about it since this is one of the apartments we all started our lives together in." She looked sad as she spoke.

"Rose, sweetie, yea it will suck not having Virginia to physically hang out in, but we have the memories. And why would we be upset that you two are moving? That would be a _tad_ hypocritical of Edward and I." I smiled at her.

"Yea, and we still have Pennsylvania. I doubt Jazz and I will be leaving there any time soon." Alice smiled at her and reached over to take her hands.

"Where are you guys moving?" Jasper asked, sipping his beer.

Rose started grinning now. "Actually, it is a little ways away. 20 minutes if you take the subway, but it lets out right down the street from our new... townhouse!" She squealed a little.

"How the hell did you manage a townhouse in New York?!" Alice's mouth dropped.

"Wow. Here _we_ thought finding a two bedroom apartment with a decent rent was a miracle." I think my jaw hit the ground.

"When do you move in?" Alice was bouncing a little.

"Next weekend. That's why I made such a big deal about tonight. We won't be able to party here again, since we don't exactly have weeknights free for a shin-dig." Rose couldn't stop grinning now.

Alice and I ran over and hugged her tightly, happy for our best friend. The guys laughed at us and discussed when we would need to be here to help with the move.

After Rose was sure we weren't going to hate her for moving, the party really started. Alice got to practice being a mom because Rose had gone all out with the drinks. We had beer, a whole assortment of liqour, girlie drinks, and jello shots. She apparently wanted us all to die of alcohol poisoning together.

After an hour or so of stupid drinking games, we were all - except Alice, of course - at least tipsy. And we were hungry. So we ordered a few pizza's.

"Did we _really_ just order pizza?" Edward asked me, for the fifth time in the past 15 minutes.

"Yes, darlink, we did." Was my normal response.

"Emmett? Emmett!" He turned to the brother closest to him.

"What up, dog?" Emmett had put a baseball cap on sideways, and was trying to act like a thug.

"Did we _really_ just order pizza?" My wonderful boyfriend asked him that, too. He was asking everyone that.

"Yessir." Emmett nodded his head a lot.

Rose came running into the room carrying more jello shots. Wait, when did she leave the room?

"Jelloooo shotssssss!" She called, falling onto the couch again.

Jasper, who had been playing with Alice's hair, ran over to the coffee table. We all circled it and grabbed a shot glass, Alice had her glass of water, ready to take a shot of that with us.

"Ok." Rose said, silencing us all. "Ok." She started laughing. "Ok. What are we toasting?" She finally asked when the gigglefit we both had, came to an end.

"Uhm..." We all thought hard.

"To..." Rose was scartching her chin, trying to think.

"To family!" Jasper said, the hand not holding his jello shot moved to rub Alice's belly lightly.

We all 'aww'd and agreed with that toast. And the jello shots were taken.

Emmett let out a loud belch, and Edward turned to me again.

"Did we _really_ order pizza?"

"Yo, Eddie. You owe me five bucks, son." Emmett said, cutting off my response.

"I _do?_" Edward looked upset, then he pulled out his wallet.

"And you owe me 10." Jasper added in with a snicker.

"_Really?_" Edward looked between his brothers, shocked.

"No!" Alice laughed. "Edward you owe them no money! Put your wallet away!" She pushed Emmett away from him, and pulled Jasper back to the chair. Jasper was immediately completely enthralled with her hair again, and Emmett was distracted by Rose sucking on his face.

"Do I _really_ owe them money?" He looked at me, and I shrugged. How do _I_ know if he owes them money?

The pizza's came and were consumed quickly, which changed Edward's question to...

"Did we _really_ just eat pizza?"

Needless to say, we had a magnificent last ever party in Virginia. The next day, we all woke up in various states of undress, and in interesting positions. Rose and I woke up in her bedroom, cuddling in our underwear. Edward was on the couch, in just his boxers and tee-shirt. And Emmett was in the spare bedroom, sprawled out on the floor. It looked like he had started to change, but hadn't quite finished when he fell. He just passed out with his pants half on and shirt both half on. The hat was still on his head, and sideways, and he had added sunglasses at some point during the night.

It was a good party.


	3. Here's To The Night

RPOV

After the insane party to say goodbye to Virginia, I woke up in my bed with Bella. Not sure how that one happened - must ask Alice.

The week was pretty uneventful. Emmett and I had to deal with the owners of the apartment building, and getting out of our lease was proving to be annoying. I am really excited about moving into the townhouse. It was incredibly lucky we got it. I had seen an ad in the newspaper about it, and we thought about it for a couple days. In New York time, that townhouse should have been sold and already moved into!

This week is not only the last week for Virginia, but also the last week The Shoppers will be performing. Well, at least our last performance until after the baby is born. We don't want Alice getting stressed about anything, so we figure cutting out the band for a while will be a good idea. None of us intend for this to be the complete end of us, just a... hiatus. Bella is stressing over finding the right song to do for her last Bellaby Time. Who knows if we will be able to get a spot at _this_ bar again, or if whatever new bar we go to will let her have it again.

"Babe, did you call Uhaul yet?" I asked on Teusday, walking to the kitchen to grab something to eat before work. We had spent all of Monday healing from the party.

"No, what's the number again?" He called from the bathroom.

"It is on the fridge. Call today, we need to make sure we have a truck for all our crap. Why didn't Bella and Edward take anything?" I huffed, looking at everything we have in the apartment.

We thought we could just use the jeep, but that would take several trips, and who the hell wants to battle traffic over and over?

"Ok. Do you know where my razor is?"

I rolled my eyes. "In the medicine cabinet. Where it always is." I added under my breath.

I popped my head in the bathroom to see him find it.

"I am heading to work. I will see you when you get home tonight." I smiled and kissed him quickly before heading out.

~*~

Work was boring, as usual. I got home and flopped onto the couch for a few minutes before getting up to figure something out for dinner. I am not Bella, so nothing fancy or home cooked. I searched through the cabinets and found some instant rice. Then, I pulled some frozen chicken from the freezer. A simple meal for two very simple people.

I can just picture Bella and Edward in their little kitchen, working together to make some fancy dinner. Probably some sort of soufle and caviar and.... something hard to make. Why did we let the two who really knew how to cook move out?! I sighed and moved back to the living room. I found a rerun of Friends and put that on. There were a couple episodes back to back, so I let myself be pulled into a fictional world.

When I heard the front door open, I smiled.

"Hey babe!" I called back, watching the end of the second episode.

"Babe, are you cooking?" He asked from the kitchen.

"N - Oh shit!" I jumped up and ran to the kitchen. I pulled open the oven, and saw the burnt chicken.

Emmett laughed a little as I pulled it out.

"Don't worry, babe. It's just a little cripsy on the outside, see?" He picked a piece up and tossed it back and forth in his hands for a minute. Then he grabbed a knife and attempted to scratch off the top layer of char. When half of the piece cracked off and fell into the trashcan, I pouted.

"Chinese?" He asked when he was done laughing.

I sighed. "Yea. You know what I like."

I moved back to the living room and settled onto the couch again. I heard him order our food and then he came and sat next to me. He grabbed the remote and channel surfed until he came to a reality show. He is hooked on these things. This one was Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

After about ten minutes, he left to go get our food. When he got back, we grabbed a couple forks and beers, and settled back in to watch our nightly programming. We really have become quite boring...

~*~

Friday night was our last bar night for a while. So, we girls spent the whole day at the bar rehearsing. We really didn't need to, though. We had decided to do some of our favorite songs, so it was more of a practice run-through, then just reminiscing. Life was going to be weird without coming here every week. This has been one of our few stable things for the past few years.

"I can't believe I am taking this away from you guys." Alice pouted.

"Ali, your not taking anything from us." I soothed.

"Yea, its that baby that's stealing our fun from us all!" Bella scowled at her playfully.

"Shut it. You know you are excited to be Aunty Bella!" Alice stuck her tongue out at her.

"Seriously, Alice, neither you or the baby are taking anything from us. _We_ decided to take the break. _We_ are forcing you to stop playing. If anything, _we_ are taking this all from _you_." I laughed, pointing out that it was all of us who decided this. She didn't ask us to stop playing, she would never do that.

"Can't you just picture it? Alice, 9 months pregnant, belly out to here." Bella held her arms out infront of herself. "Attempting to strap a bass to herself, and waddling around stage, trying to dance?" We all laughed at the mental image.

"Hell, if she had it her way, that baby would be born on stage. She pop it out, hand it to Jasper and play an encore!" I added onto Bella's idea.

Alice was laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes.

"You guys are the best. Once we can, we will be back on stage. Rocking it out like the diva's we are!" She smiled at us.

It came time to go meet up with the guys, and a lump filled my throat on the walk.

This is really happening. I never thought the day would come that we would walk away from that stage for good. So many days have been spent in that bar, getting set lists planned and practicing. So many evenings have been spent, at this little deli. So many nights have been spent playing the music we love for a crowd of people who love it, too. I have so many amazing memories here, and we are hanging it all up.

I don't know how to feel. On one hand, we are leaving one thing we love, so that we can properly usher in something new. Something we will love just as much, if not more. A baby. A child who we can teach all this craziness to. On the other hand, this band has changed all of our lives so completely. It brought Bella to Alice and I. It introduced us to our amazing men. Because, even in the beginning, that first day when Alice and I met them in the elevator, we had been on our way to band practice. They saw the crazy girls that we are that night, when Alice barrelled through their apartment to let us into ours.

How does one properly say goodbye to something that brought everything that matters in their life, to them?

When we finished eating, we all silently walked to the bar.

"I feel like we are going to a funeral." Emmett said when we were almost there. "Well, a very casual funeral." He added, glancing at what we were all wearing.

We laughed and I looped my arm through his.

We got through the set faster than I would have thought we could. Bella saved her Bellaby Time for the end, and Alice and I made our ways to the guys. I felt a few tears slide down my cheeks, and when I looked at Alice, I saw she was full out crying. Up on stage, Bella looked upset, too.

"Hey guys." She spoke into the microphone from her stool on stage. "As you all know, tonight is the last night we will be preforming." There was a bunch of 'boo'ing from the crowd, which made us all laugh a little. "Thanks. Well, it is not a goodbye forever, just a for now. I'm sure you all have noticed Alice's growing stomache. She isn't just putting on weight, there's a baby in there!" Everyone clapped, and Alice blushed. "Well, I have spent the last week, trying to come up with the right song for Bellaby Time this week. There were a few that seemed good, but I think this one fits the best." Her voice cracked a little. "Nothing can even begin to express how much we love you all, and how much it means to us that you have been here with us for so long. This place is full of memories that _we_ will never forget, and we hope you all have enjoyed our time here, too. Now, here's the last song of the night."

Bella wiped her eyes, then started playing.

_"So denied_

_So I lied_

_Are you the now or never kind_

_In a day_

_And a day love_

_I'm gonna be gone for good again_

_  
Are you willing_

_To be had_

_Are you cool with just tonight_

_Here's a toast_

_To all those _

_Who hear me all too well._

_Here's to the nights we felt alive_

_Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry_

_Here's to goodbye_

_Tomorrow's gonna come too soon."_

I think all three of us were crying during this. I knew whatever song she picked would do this to us, but she was right. This song fits so well.

_"Put your name_

_On the line_

_Along with place and time_

_Wanna stay_

_Not to go_

_I wanna ditch the logical_

_Here's a toast_

_To all those_

_Who hear me all too well_

_Here's to the nights we felt alive_

_Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry_

_Here's to goodbye_

_Tomorrow's gonna come too soon."_

I looked around and saw a lot of faces I recognized. Some were smiling, some looked upset. There were even some who were crying with us.

_"All my time_

_Is froze in motion_

_Can't I stay_

_And hour or two or more_

_Don't let me let you go_

_Here's a toast_

_To all those_

_Who hear me all too well."_

Bella stopped playing during the last phrase, then started playing harder than before during the rest of the song.

_"Here's to the nights we felt alive_

_Here's to the tears I knew I'd cry_

_Here's to goodbye_

_Tomorrow's gonna come too soon_

_Here's to the nights we felt alive_

_Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry_

_Here's to goodbye_

_Tomorrow's gonna come too soon."_

As the last chord played out, Alice and I ran back up to the stage. We wrapped our arms around each other, and cried together. The crowd errupted in applause, be we weren't listening.

"Once this baby is out of me, we are getting back on stage. No matter what, I am _not_ going to be the reason you stop playing." Alice yelled at us. We laughed a little, but it didn't stop the tears.

"I just want you guys to know, in case I ever forgot to say it before. I love you both so much, and you mean the world to me. I'd do anything for either of you. You are the best friends I have ever had, better than anything I ever imagined possible. You were there for me when I needed it, and I can never repay you for what you have done for me." Bella cried, hugging us closer.

"Alice, you have always been my best friend. For as long as I can remember, you have been there. And Bella, you are the most amazing person I know. It shames me to think that before I moved to New York, had we met somewhere back in Cali, I wouldn't have even looked at you. I would have missed out on someone amazing. You both have been by my side through so much crap, and I don't think I ever thanked either of you for it. Or if I did, I didn't do it enough. Thank you for making me smile when I wanted to cry. Thank you for openning my eyes to the world. Thank you for ever giving me a chance." I cried. I couldn't believe how amazing my two best friends were.

"I feel like such a sham!" Alice cried out. "You both have been through some really shitty times, and helped each other through so much. The lowest point in my life was back in Cali, and Bella wasn't even in our lives yet! Here I am, thinking I can share in the amazingness of our friendship, and my life hasn't been nearly as... I just... you two are so much better than me. If I had been in either of your situations, I would have fallen apart. You are the strongest people I know, and I am making it my mission in life to see to it that you both are the happiest people alive."

Eventually, we stopped crying enough to say goodbye to the audience, and make it back to our men. We didn't stay long - the crying took a lot out of us. It's time to start the next phase of life.

**A/N: Hey again! Ok, I cried a lot while writing this. It is sad to see their band nights going bye bye. They will perform again once the baby is born, so it _will_ be back! But yea, the song Bella sang this time is Here's To The Night by Eve 6.**

**Well, it is time for this author to climb into bed, so review for me please!!**

**~AP**


	4. A Night Out

**A/N: Hey-lo all! I am sooooo sorry this has taken FOREVER to post. I realized that I was getting behind in my writing, and I blame it all on Harry Potter. Well, not ALL on HP. lol I read all 7 books in like 2 months. It is a great series, and if anyone hasn't read it, DO IT! :) It really is a truly awesome series. I also kind of started an HP fic but nothing is posted because I am more worried about my Twi stuff, but if I get a good number of chapters written for the HP fic, I might post it. We will see. Also, my lap-top seems to be dying. It is a hand-me-down from the shop my dad works in, and the only reason I got it is because someone got pissed and threw it. The cd drive doesn't work, the speakers don't work. And for a bit now, I have been having issues with the internet connection and the pixels. Yay.**

**Now, this chapter is a little shorter than most, but it is a fun one. It is just a cutesy Bellward chapter. It opens up some stuff that will come about in later chapters, but it is mostly just fluffy stuff. I am going to work on my RW fic once this is posted.**

**Now, go and read this chapter, and review please!!!! **

**~AP**

BPOV

The week following our final gig, the girls and I didn't talk as much as we normally do. Any time a conversation came too close to the topic of performing, Rose or I would find a reason to run away from it. We were not mad at Alice or anything, it was still just too fresh for us. Plus, this was odd. In the past, any breaks from playing had been for negative reasons. This is a totally positive one, and we can't help but be sad that we aren't playing. So, in order to keep from upsetting Alice with our sadness, we always just suddenly remembered something we had to do.

I am fairly certain we were failing at keeping Alice oblivious to our sadness, though. Which makes me feel worse, but really, would it be better for us to be opennly upset about the lack of playing gigs? Or is leaving her to just guess that we are upset, worse? I don't know. Sigh.

Tonight Edward and I are going out to dinner. We haven't gone on any dates recently, so we figured we should. I stood next to our bed looking over my outfit choices. He didn't tell me where we were going, so I am debating between a a pair of jeans and white peasant top, or the little black dress that Alice swore every girl should have. If he takes me somewhere nice I don't want to be under dressed, but if he takes me somewhere casual, I don't want to be over dressed. Gah! Why can't the boy just tell me where we are going?!

Knowing Edward, it will most likely be somewhere pretty casual, because he doesn't like getting all dressed up himself. But this is also me we are talking about, and Edward likes to spoil me. Sigh.

I finaly decided that Edward likes casual and he knows I like casual, so I threw on the jeans and top, and started looking for shoes. I decided on white ballet flats, and picked up my jean jacket to wait in the living room. Edward should be home from work any minute now.

Just as I thought that, the front door openned.

"Lucy! I'm home!" Edward yelled in a not-so-Ricky voice. Honestly, it sounded more like Pee-Wee Herman...

I giggled and walked over to greet him.

"You look amazing." He said with a quick peck, then disappeared into our bedroom to change.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He laughed from the doorway, not wearing a shirt.

I bit my lip, and grinned at him.

"Please tell me?" I tried to give him puppy-dog eyes, but he quickly covered his eyes with his hand and shut the bedroom door. I scowled at the spot where his topless form used to be.

When he appeared again, he was wearing jeans and a white button-down shirt, with the sleeves pushed up.

"You ready?" He asked, pulling together the last couple buttons.

"Yup. Where are we going?" I smiled at him.

"No where special." He shrugged, making me deflate a little. I have to admit I have become a bit used to being spoiled by Edward.

He lead the way out of the apartment building, and we started to walk down the street. A couple blocks from our building was an old movie theatre, and Edward lead the way inside. I didn't get a chance to check what was playing, but he walked straight up to the ticket counter and bought two tickets.

We stopped at the snack bar and got a large bucket of popcorn, a large rootbeer, and some ju-ju-bee's for me. We made our way back to the theatre and found some seats. The theatre was not very full, so I quickly leaned down in my seat and propped my feet up on the empty seat infront of me. Edward slouched down in his seat, too, but kept his feet on the floor. We had the soda in the cup holder between us, and he held the popcorn while I had my candy. This was how we always situated ourselves in a theatre. I always get annoyed when people sit infront of me, because I like being this comfortable while watching a movie.

The previews started, and I reached for a handful of popcorn. Edward had reached in at the same time, and stole most of my handful. I laughed and stuck my tongue out at him, then reached for more. He did it again, and I smacked him in the arm. This time I reached and just as he reached in, I pulled my hand back a little. I stole the popcorn from _him_ and quickly threw it into my mouth. A whole handful of popcorn was in my mouth as I laughed again, and started to choke on it. Edward quickly reached back and hit my back a couple times and the peices I was choking on dislodged, and I coughed a couple times.

"I swear, I can't take you anywhere!" He said, sighing dramatically as I gulped down some soda. I glared at the bucket of popcorn.

I made a face at him, then settled back into my comfortable position as the movie started. It was Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince. I got so into it, I forgot that I was boycotting the popcorn.

When the movie ended, we made our ways outside with the small crowd and Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me down the street. He pulled me in a burger place, and we were quickly seated. After ordering our food, I left to use the restroom.

While I was washing my hands, another woman stepped up to the sink next to me. I didn't pay her any attention, except a quick smile when she looked at me in the mirror. I could still feel her eyes on me as I finished, and he hands weren't moving under the flow of water. I shook my hands off slightly then grabbed a couple papertowels. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her rush through washing her hands.

"Excuse me!" I heard her call as I stepped over to the bathroom door.

"Yes?" I asked, turning to face her.

"Your name is Bella, right?" She wiped off her hands on the paper towels and steped closer to me.

"Yea... Do I know you?" I took another step towards the door.

"No. You don't. My name is Heidi. You are in the band The Shoppers, right?"

I nodded.

"Look. I know you guys are on a bit of hiatus right now, but if any of you want to start up again, give me a call." She reached into her purse, and pulled out a business card.

I took the card and looked over it as we both walked back towards our tables. The card was for an agency. The Volturi Agency. It had Heidi's name and e-mail and several phone numbers. I was still looking at the card as I took my seat.

"What's that?" Edward asked, shaking salt onto his french fries.

"I business card a woman gave me in the bathroom." I held it out to him, and picked up the pepper for my fries.

After he glanced at it, he shrugged and set it on the table.

"I wonder what the girls will think of it."

We ate our food, talking a little, and I saw the Heidi woman leave with a couple people a few minutes after I sat back down. When we were done, Edward paid and we walked back outside together. He lead me to a Maggie Moo's and we got ice cream. Then, we made our ways to a little park nearby and sat on a bench to eat it. We talked, and people watched and just had fun. It was a nice night out.


	5. An Accident

**A/N: Hey Hey! So, here is the next chappy! Yay! I think it will be a bit of a shock, but... that's what we writers do best. Throw curve balls. :) Enjoy!**

**APOV**

Things have been quite calm around here. Aside from how fat I have gotten, nothing has really been going on. Ever since the band stopped playing – I know it has only been like two weeks, but I still feel bad. I know they don't hate me for getting pregnant. In fact, I know they are quite excited about the baby. Still, I feel bad. But that does not matter. Things just need to liven up some around here.

Rose and Emmett are gone, so the building just seems so quiet. Eerily quiet. I never realized how much noise Emmett makes until he isn't around making it. Jazz seems to be enjoying the quiet. He has been able to read a lot, and he has taken the opportunity to read to the baby as much as possible. It is really freaking cute when he does it, but I usually end up falling asleep. All he reads is old history books and newspapers. How… boring.

I am at work right now, and let me tell you, morning sickness in an ER is NOT fun. I was so happy when that phase of the pregnancy ended.

I wish Jazz would take me out for a date night like Bella and Edward had the other day. It sounded so cute when Bella told Rose and I about it. She told us that some lady from a talent agency had given her a business card for whenever we came out of our hiatus, which is really cool. But, we are on the fence about it. We had always said that music was just for fun, and that is why we never try and write anything original. Or, at least, that is the excuse we give for our lack of writing skills. But, even if we were amazing song writers, I don't feel like we would ever try to do anything with it. We are all happy with where our lives are. Well, Bella would love a career change, but we don't want the fame. I am obsessed with celebrity gossip, I know how little privacy famous people get. Do I really want to have to dodge photogs if I want to run out for some coffee? Do I want to stop working in the ER? I don't know…

Ah, working at the ER. That was the big thing. I love music, but I love helping people, too. It really put me in a pickle. Mmm… pickles…

I decided it was time for me to take my lunch break, and ran over to tell one of the other nurses that I would be back. I decided to just walk down the street to the deli that makes amazing steak subs. After I had gotten my sub and a drink, I made my way back to the hospital. I found an empty spot on the little wall that leads up to the entrance and dug in.

I was almost done eating when I saw an ambulance fly up to the doors. I watched the EMT's pull out a girl on a stretcher. She was covered in blood, probably wasn't wearing her seatbelt and got into an accident. I could see she had brown hair and very little fashion sense. For a split second, I thought that maybe it was Bella. But then I remembered that Bella and Edward are constantly glued to each other, so if that _was_ Bella, Edward would either have climbed out of the ambulance with the EMT's or there would be a second one…

My thoughts trailed off as a second ambulance pulled into the space the first had just vacated.

It is just whoever was in the second car. I kept telling myself that as the doors opened. I tried to crane my neck and see who was on that stretcher, but the EMT's were busy trying to keep them still.

"Let me go!" The voice cried out from the stretcher, and my stomach leaped. "Bella!"

I dropped what was left of my sub, and jumped off the wall. The EMT's were having trouble holding him down, and I intended to make it even harder for them.

"Emmett!" I yelled as I got close to the stretcher.

"Alice!" He yelled too, seeing me.

"What happened? Was that Bella?" My voice was amazingly steady.

"Yes. We were bored, so we went for a drive. This truck comes flying out of no where, going faster than I have ever seen any vehicle go in this state. Bella got thrown from the jeep. They won't let me go to see if she is OK. They wouldn't even let me find my phone to call Rose or Edward." He tried to push the EMT's off of him again, but they held on.

"Guys, seriously, let him go!" I shoved one.

"I think he has a broken arm." Said the other.

"If it is broken, I can't do much more damage!" Emmett was getting mad now.

"Just let us get you inside and put a cast on your arm. And let the doctors look at your friend." The one I had shoved said, and I felt bad for doing that. He was just doing his job.

Emmett sighed. "Let me at least walk inside."

"Em, I will call the others. Go get yourself looked at." I ran off, leaving him to debate his entrance into the hospital with them.

I ran as fast as I could back to the nurses lounge, and my cubby. After digging through my purse a little – and cursing all the junk I have inside of it – I found my cell phone. I went automatically to Jasper's number, and hit send.

"Hey Darling. How's work?" He drawled into the phone, but I had no time for drooling over his voice.

"Jasper, you need to get here quick." I said picking up my purse and walking towards the door again.

"What's wrong? Is it the baby?" I could hear him running through the apartment.

"The baby and I are fine. But, Bella and Emmett just got brought in by ambulance." I made it to the nurses desk in the ER in record time. "Tracey, I am off for the rest of the day." I said, leaning over the counter a little, and grabbing my water bottle.

"What do you mean, Emmett and Bella just got brought in by ambulance?" Jasper said into my ear.

"I mean, Emmett and Bella just got brought in by ambulance. They were in a car accident. Emmett probably has a broken arm, but that seems like all it is. I don't know about Bella, yet. I don't know how much longer the shock is going to keep me from freaking out, so you need to get here." I said, and hung up the phone.

"Everything OK?" Tracey asked me, as my left hand reached up and tugged on my hair a little.

"One of my best friends and one of my boyfriend's brothers just got into an accident. So… I am going to guess that no, I am not OK." I said, then turned and started down the hallway.

I flipped my phone open again, and decided Rose was the better to call first. After a couple rings, she answered.

"Hey Al, I am at work. Can I call you back?" I could hear the sounds of the shop behind her.

"Uh, you _could,_ I suppose. But, I am fairly certain you don't want to." I said, making a nervous face that she couldn't see.

"Huh?" Was the genius response I got from her.

".IthinkEmmettonlyhasabrokenarm,butIamnotsurehowBellaisyet." I said quickly, then held my breath to see how much she got.

I let my breath out when she said nothing for about 20 long seconds.

"Rose?" I asked, tentatively.

"Are they OK?" Her voice was so small, I wished I could take it all back.

"Emmett is fine. He was fighting with the EMT's. I don't know how Bella is. She looked pretty banged up."

"I am on my way." She said, and the call was disconnected.

Sighing, I sat in a chair in the hallway. I stared at my phone for a minute, wondering how to tell Edward that I didn't know how Bella was. I almost went to find her so I could tell him something, but realized they wouldn't know the extent of her injuries yet. Before I got the nerve to dial Edward, I heard footsteps running down the hallway. Looking up, I saw Emmett bounding towards me. His arm was in a sling, and there was a bandage on his forehead.

"How is she?" He asked, stopping in front of me, but not sitting.

"Not sure yet. Rose is on her way. I was about to call Edward." I sighed.

"You are awfully calm. I thought pregnant chicks' hormones made them over react to everything, not calmed them down." He said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I think I am still in shock." I laughed a little. "Not sure when it will wear off and I will flip out."

As if on some hidden due, Jasper came running down the hallway. Something in me clicked from being the calm, collected one; and into the hysterical best friend. I saw Jasper and I jumped up, and once his arms were around me, the dam burst.

"Shh, baby its OK. I am sure Bella is fine. Calm down." He soothed, running his hands through my hair. "Do Rose and Edward know?" He asked over my shoulder.

"Rose is on her way, but Alice hadn't gotten the chance to call Edward yet." Emmett spoke above my sobs. "Dude, she was calm like 2 seconds ago. Then you show up, and she loses it."

This, of course, made me cry harder. Which made Jasper hit Emmett.

"Well, she obviously can't call Edward now, and someone has to. You call Edward, and I will go see if there is any news about Bella." Jasper said, helping me sit in one of the seats. I pulled a tissue out of my purse, after handing Emmett the phone.

"Dude, you gotta get to the hospital." I heard Emmett saying into the phone a few feet away. "No, nothing is wrong with Alice. It's Bella."

I could practically hear Edward implode at how Emmett had said that. No doubt he was half-way here already.

"Calm down! No, we were in an accident. If you'd calm down, I could explain. Or, you could hang up on me." Emmett said sarcastically to the phone.

He sat down next to me as I sniffled into my tissue. We sat in relative silence for a couple minutes, before we heard more feet running down the hall. Looking up, we both watched Rose moving as fast as she could towards us. She still had her jumpsuit on, and her hair was pulled back into a messy pony tail. She even had grease smudged across her cheek.

"Emmett." She ran straight to him, and neither of them paid attention to how dirty she was as he stood up and they embraced.

After a moment of them saying how much they loved each other, Rose turned to me.

"How is she?" She asked as Emmett sat back down, pulling her between the two of us.

"I don't know. Jasper left to go see if he could find anything out." I sniffled again, and Rose pulled me into a hug.

The three of us fell into the relative silence as we waited, wondering who would appear first. A Jasper with answers, or a frantic Edward.

Jasper came around the corner finally, and we all stood up. I started towards him, and he quickly wrapped his arms around me.

"Well?" Rose asked, gripping Emmett's hand like a lifeline.

Just as Jasper's mouth opened, we heard the frantic footsteps of Edward approaching.

"Bella?!" The terror in his eyes made me want to slap Emmett. "Where is she?"

His eyes jumped frantically around the group when he was in front of us.

"Calm down, Jazz just got back from going to find out." Emmett said, but Edward seemed to only be half-listening.

"Where is she?" He asked, looking like he was about to search room to room until he found her.

"She is in surgery." Jasper said, as we all watched Edward carefully. "It is not serious, and she should be in a room within the hour. The doctors just wanted to be sure there was no internal bleeding."

"Sit down Edward. You need to calm down before you see her anyways. Do you want her to see you all worked up?" Rose said, rubbing his arm.

His mouth opened and closed a couple times before he nodded, and we all sat down to wait.

"What happened?" He asked no one in particular, just staring into space.

"We were bored, so we decided to go for a drive. We had been driving in circles basically for like forty five minutes, so we were headed back to ya'lls place. Suddenly, this truck comes barrelling out of no where. We were turning, and it hit my side." Emmett explained, and Rose gasped when he said where the truck hit. "It hit the back tire, and my arm just jerked wrong." He said, taking hold of her hand. "Well, you know how she could never figure out how to work the harness, so when the truck hit us, Bella went flying. I blacked out for a few minutes, and when I came around, her ambulance had already left." His voice was thick in the end, and I saw his eyes swimming with tears.

Edwards hands were running through his hair, and we all sat in silence for a while. When two doctors came around the corner, we all jumped up.

"Are you all here for Isabella Swan?" One of them asked, and we all nodded. "She is in room 2013. She is still asleep, but you can see her now." He smiled and since I was the only one who had any idea of where the room was, I lead the way.

When we finally got to Bella's room, we all stopped. After staring at the door for a moment, Jasper leaned forward and pulled it open. What we saw when we walked inside the room made my heart clench. I grabbed onto Jasper, and saw Rose do the same to Emmett. Edward walked forward slowly and dropped to his knees next to her bed.

**A/N: OK, so, I know, I am evil. It takes me a year and a day to update, and when I finally do, I leave you all hanging like this... Well, it is time for this writer to go to bed!**

**Oh, yea, Please Review!! :)**

**~AP**


	6. note

I have been a horrid author lately, I know. I haven't updated nearly as much as I should, and I sincerely apologize. And, I know this post is going to get ppl excited that there is a new chappy, but there isn't I am currently working on it, though, so no worries. I will be up soon!

Alas, I have also realized that this is going to be a much shorter story. As much as I love these characters, I think it is time that they are able to move on with their lifes. I think there will be one more chappy after the next one, to close things up. I have other stories on my mind, and have already begun writing them, too. After I post the last chappies for the Life stories, I am going to be MIA for a while. I want to get at least 2 full chappies written for the new story before I post anything.

I am also hoping to post more for my Real World story soon, too. I really want to write more for it, I have so many ideas, they are driving me nuts!

Well, I hope none of you hate me for my lack of posts.

Much love to all of you who continue to read my stuff. It means a lot to me!

~AP


	7. The Dream

The day started out normal. It was just like every other day off I have had for as long as I can remember. I slept in a little bit, then got up and made myself some oatmeal. I ate my breakfast while watching reruns of Dawson 's Creek, then took a long shower. When the shower was over, I pulled on some old worn out jeans and a ratty t-shirt, and started cleaning. I had the whole apartment clean by lunchtime. Just as I was trying to decide what I wanted for lunch, my phone went off.

_Food._

That was all Emmett said. With a chuckle, I responded with a few of the ideas that had been running through my head. Before long, I was in the stairwell, making my way down to Emmett's awaiting jeep.

We drove around until we had agreed on going to a small deli. It was less because we really wanted what they had, and more because Emmett's stomach was grumbling so loud passing cars could hear it. So, Emmett parked the jeep three blocks away, and we walked to our destination. The food was quite tasty, and I was happy with it. Emmett, on the other hand, was disappointed in the amount of French fries they had given him to go with his sandwich. I do not know what he was complaining about, though, the sandwich was as big as my head.

When we finished eating, Emmett decided he was still bored. I had nothing better to do, so, like a fool, I agreed to drive around aimlessly with him. Emmett entertained us both by acting like a tour guide and pointing out places as we passed them. We wanted to stop off at Madame Tousaud's Wax Museum, but the closest parking spot we found was about 15 blocks away. So, we just kept driving.

After a while, the enormous sandwich Emmett had consumed kicked in. He started to get tired, so we decided to head back to the apartment to hang out until someone else got off work to amuse us.

I was bouncing around in my seat, dancing to the song that was playing. Emmett was laughing at me, when he made the turn onto the street Edward and I lived on. Neither of us saw the truck coming, but when it hit, the jeep lurched sideways. I felt my head smack into the window hard, reached out to grab hold of something to stabilize myself. I am not sure what my hand hit, but the next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. Then, everything went black.

Things just came to me in flashes after that. A sharp ringing in my ears; some sort of wetness covering my body. Faces blurring past me, voices slurring together. I caught sight of a lady wearing a weird multi-colored shirt at one point. She was looking through some papers, and everything went dark again before she noticed me.

I am not sure how long I was in the dark, but it didn't seem to take too long before I started seeing light. It was like a was in a long tunnel, and I was moving slowly towards the opening. The light got larger the closer I got, but never quite seemed to be in my reach.

Suddenly, the light flashed bright, and I had to cover my eyes against it. It was gone just as suddenly as it had come, but I was no longer in the dark tunnel.

Opening my eyes, I blinked as everything came into view. There was a lot of green - trees, grass, moss. Everything was green. Well, except Emmett's red jeep. It was on its side, and I could see something black and red underneath it.

I wondered briefly how the jeep and I had ended up in some sort of forest, but a more immediate worry hit me. Where was Emmett?

Pixie came running up to me, and I picked her up, still wondering about Emmett.

"He was in the car with me, Pixie, where did he go?" I asked outloud, petting her. When, suddenly, I realized that Pixie should not be here.

After THAT shock wore off, I started thinking about the situation. When I noticed a road nearby, I moved towards it to investigate. It was a yellow brick road.

Just as I noticed the yellow brick road, sunlight hit the jeep just right, and I saw something glitter from underneath it. With a sigh, as I realized what was going on, I walked back over to it. As the red glitter came into full view, I swore under my breath.

With a sigh, I picked up the ruby slippers, and started down the path of the yellow brick road. It didn't take long before small house came into view. I glanced down at the dog in my arms, and sighed again.

"We're not in New York anymore, Pixie."

She barked happily.

Suddenly, music started from somewhere, and I looked around to try and find the speakers. Finding nothing, I waited for the munchkins to come out.

"Weeee wish to represent-" They started, but I was not about to deal with this.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Can you stop singing for a minute?" I yelled above them.

It was quiet all of a sudden, as all eyes turned to me.

"So, uh, sorry." I gave them all a weak smile. "I guess I need to reach the Wizard of Oz?"

"Bella!" I heard a familiar voice shout, and looked to see Alice – dressed like a munchkin – come running towards me.

Seeing Alice dressed that way made me think of myself. I glanced down, afraid I would see a dress, and sighed with relief when I saw the jeans and t-shirt I had put on this morning.

"Alice! What are you doing here?" I asked as my best friend hugged me.

"This is your dream, babe." She shrugged.

I glanced around at all the colors that had erupted out of the green of the woods we were in. The munchkins were all looking at me expectantly.

"So… I guess we are going to follow the yellow – " I started but was cut off by singing.

"Follow the yellow brick road! Follow the yellow brick road! Follow, follow, follow, follow! Follow the yellow brick road!" They surrounded us as they sang.

"Let's get out of here." I said, grabbing Alice's arm and moving towards the road.

"Fast." She said, motioning for Pixie to follow us.

So, Alice, Pixie and I started out on the yellow brick road. We laughed heartily when the munchkins' singing finally completely faded away behind us. We walked in silence for a few minutes, then the trees ended, and we were abruptly walking through a cornfield. The yellow brick road just continued on as if this was not odd.

"So, I wonder where everyone else is?" Alice said, glancing around.

As if on some cue, we heard a male voice shout to our left.

"What the?!"

Alice and I ran in the direction of the familiar voice. It did not take long before we found him, dressed in overalls and a plaid shirt. Alice and I burst into laughter at the sight of Emmett dressed like a hillbilly with straw sticking out in random spots.

"Ok, I know I am not the most intelligent person in the world, but really, Bella? The scarecrow?!" He huffed.

I gave him an apologetic shrug.

"Emmett!" Alice bounced over to him and gave him a big hug.

"Don't expect me to sing." He grumbled as they joined Pixie and I back on the yellow brick road.

So, the four of us started to walk down the yellow brick road. We all refused to skip. It didn't take long before we heard something. At first it was just a muffled cry, but as we got closer, it got louder. I soon recognized the voice swearing, and started moving faster.

"huhk."

We soon saw the silver color as we ran around a slight bend in the yellow brick road to where the Tin Man was rusted solid. Only, this was the Tin Woman. Rosalie was trying to move, and was swearing like a sailor in the process.

"Ut uh huhk. Hy an I huhking huck? Huhking hiece uh hit! Hait unhil I het hi hans on hoo e-ah ih hehonhible hor his. I hill kick 'eir ah. Huhkin heh. AH!" She hadn't noticed we were there yet, but the end of her tirade was just a scream like she thought the vocals might add to her strength and make her arms and legs work.

Alice cleared her throat while Emmett and I tried to stifle our laughter. I saw Rose's eyes snapped over to us and she started screaming partially articulated swear words at us. Emmett and I leaned on each other for support as Alice moved forward to oil Rose's joints for her.

"Think that was funny, do ya? Huh? Happy that I am the heartless one, Bella? Really? Really? I mean, come on!" Rose yelled when she could move and talk properly again.

"I'm so-sorry Rose! You know I love you!" I said through laughter.

"Whatever. Don't we have to find the wizard or something?" She gestured towards the yellow brick road.

When Emmett and I had calmed enough to stand on our own again, we started down the road again.

"And if you expect me to skip, you have got to be out of your mind." Rose said, not letting Emmett anywhere near her, since he was still chuckling at her.

They walked along peacably for a while before they came to a house where someone was dressed in all black and sitting on the roof.

"It's the Wicked Witch!" Emmett yells as he realizes what part of the movie they are at. "I wonder who the witch is…" He mused as they walked up to the house.

Tanya sat on the roof of the house, looking around nervously.

"Oh, thank goodness someone is here. Emmett, help me down." She said when they were close enough.

"Emmett, who is that?" Rose asks, looking at her husband expectantly when he moved forward to help Tanya.

"Huh? Oh, that is just Tanya." He says with a shrug.

"Uh, hold up!" Alice grabs his arm. "You mean _the_ Tanya? With Kate and Irina? One of the wenches who attacked Bella?"

Emmett seemed to have forgotten all about that until Alice's reminder, and he turns to glare at the blonde on the roof.

"Seriously? Emmett, it is me, Tanya! You know me! Would I attack someone? That was all Kate, and had I known she was going to hit the girl, I would have stopped her!" Tanya was suddenly very nervous that she was going to be stuck on that roof for a while.

"Save it bitch. You will get no help from us." Rose yelled, then turned and continued down the yellow brick road.

With a shrug, the rest of us followed her. Before long, trees started to close in around the yellow brick road, and Emmett started chanting 'Lions, and tigers, and bears, Oh my!" We all slowly joined in, getting excited as we walked.

Suddenly, a golden blur leapt infront of us.

"Put 'em up, put 'em _uuuuuu_p! Which one of you first? I'll fight ya both together if you want. I'll fight ya with one paw tied behind my back. I'll fight ya standin' on one foot. I'll fight ya with my eyes closed." He says shaking his fists at us like he is ready to fight He turns to Rose, speaking directly to her. "Oh, pulling an axe on me, hey?" Then turning to Emmett. "Sneakin' up on me, hey? Why, gnong-gnong!"

There is a moment of silence as we all stare at each other, the all 5 of us burst into laughter.

"You know, I didn't think I would get all that out without laughing."

"Jazz, man, that was _awesome_!" Emmett guffaws, and gives Jasper a hard slap on the back.

"So, may I ask where we are in The Wizard of Oz?" Jasper asks, looking around at the scenery.

"This is all Bella." Rose says, glaring at me again. I shrug at the all, apologizing again for my subconscious picking this movie to place everyone in.

We all stand around talking for a bit, but then start walking again. Jasper skips some, but when he realizes none of us want to skip, he stops. Luckily, as none of us are idiots, we know better than to stop and sleep in the open field, and continue on to Oz. At the front gate, the gatekeeper turns out to be Charlie. He lets us in without a thought, and Renee is on the inside, leading a horse that Phil is riding (he has a broken leg and can't walk.). We find Carlisle and Esme as we walk through the city toward where the wizard is, and after greeting us (and wondering about my subconscious choices), they let us continue on our way. It is weird that I get glances of everyone I know running around the city.

It takes some time, but we finally get to the Palace where the wizard is. We get inside, and Kate is maning the 'front desk'. After glares from us, she goes to see if the Wizard will see us, and we wait, knowing she will come back and say no. The wait is not long.

"The Great and Powerful Oz says no." She says, in a bored tone.

"Look bitch, if you don't move your ass out of our way, I will – " Rose starts, but Alice cuts her off.

"Calm down Rose. Bella apparently can't let us skip EVERY hard part in the movie." She rolls her eyes.

I cross my arms, and blush in response.

"Bella, you _do _realize that Edward is probably the Wizard, right?" Rose sighs.

Suddenly, the ground opens up, and Kate falls through the random hole. This effectively clears our path to Edward – I mean, the Wizard.

We all start down the hallway, and easily push open the doors. Walking inside the large, empty-ish room, we all look for the curtains that we know the wizard is hiding behind. Before he can even begin to speak, I run over to the curtains and rip them open.

"Edwa-" I fall silent upon seeing who is behind the curtains.

"Heya Bells." Jake runs a hand nervously through his hair.

We are all silent.

"Well, that was a shocker." Emmett breaks the silence.

"Why are you here, Jake? Where is Edward?" I try and see past him, as if he was hiding Edward.

He shrugs. "No clue. But there is a hot air balloon over there." He points to a huge hot air balloon that we all missed seeing when we first walked in.

"Wow. That's cool." Jasper says.

Pixie and I are the only ones who seem capable of stepping into the hot air balloon, though. As soon as anyone else tries to, the little door for it slams shut.

"What the?" Emmett says, trying to yank it open again.

"Chill brainless, in the movie, only Dorothy and Toto fly away." Alice says, patting Emmett on the back.

He pouts for a few seconds, then realizes what Alice called him, and glares at her.

"Ok, so, uh, bye guys!" I say, waving to them.

"Wait til you wake up." Rose glares at me. "I will show you how heartless I am!"

The balloon moves up into the air as we all laugh. Things kind of swirl out of focus at this point, and when it clears up again, I am laying in a bed. I look up, and realize I am still in the dream. I look around to find out who my Auntie Em and Uncle Henry are going to be.

There is only one person in the room with me, though. When he realizes that I see him, he stands a moves slowly closer to me. With ease, he lays down next to me on the bed, and holds my hand.

"Hi." I smile at him.

"Hi." He grins back.

I sigh, realizing how much I have missed him. I close my eyes, happy to just _be_ in this moment. Feeling his hand in mine. Feeling his breath on my cheek. Slowly, I open my eyes again. Edward has his shut now, but I notice he does not look at happy as I feel.

It is obvious right away that he is asleep. But, he is not peaceful. His face looks pained, and he is wearing normal clothes, not pajama's. He is also asleep on top of the blanket, which is odd. So is the color of the blanket. It is a pale blue that I know I would never have picked out for our bed. I have to talk to him about this purchase.

I reach up to smooth the lines on his forehead and see the tube connected to my hand. With a start, I look around me. We are not laying in bed at home. We are in a hospital.

"Edward." My voice is hoarse, and comes out a whisper.

I reach out again, and try to shake Edwards shoulder to wake him up. My body is so weak that I barely move him.

His fitful sleep makes him easy to wake, though, and his eyes snap open.

"Bella?" He says my name, but all I notice are the tears in his eyes.

"Edward, what-" I try to speak again, but my throat is so dry that I can only say those two words.

"Shh. Don't try to speak. Let me get you some water, then I will get Dad." He carefully gets out of beds, and moves to a tray with cups and a pitcher on it. His hands shake as he pours water into one of the cups.

After handing the water to me, he stands there watching me. I down several cups before trying to speak again.

"Edward, what happened?" I ask.

"You and Emmett were in an accident." He says, sounding very unlike Edward.

"Is Emmett OK?" I ask, fear running through my body at the thought of anything happening to Emmett.

"Emmett is fine." Edward reasures me quickly, sitting on the bed again.

I sigh, and give Edward a weak smile.

"Oh, Bella." He says, falling across my stomache. "I have been so worried!" His voice shakes.

I can't think of anything to say, so I just run my fingers through his hair slowly. He looks up at me, and my heart breaks in half. Edward has tears running down his cheeks, and his eyes are blood-shot.

"I thought I was going to lose you. I thought… I thought… I just… I felt so useless." His voice broke in several places, and I felt the hot tears building in my eyes.

"Edward, it is OK. I am OK." I cooed, taking his face in my hands.

His hands wrapped around mine, and he turned his face into one of them. I watched his tears fall and wanted to wipe them all away.

After a few minutes of silence, he was able to pull himself together some.

"I need to get Carlisle." He stood up, watching my warily. Like he was scared if he left, I would disappear.

Walking briskly to the door, he opened it carefully and stuck his head. After a few whispered words, he shut the door and walked back to me. Before long, the door openned again, and Carlisle came in, carrying a chart.

"It is very good to see you awake, Bella." He smiled at me, his eyes shining a little. With a start, I realized he looked close to tears, too.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked, worried about the answer.

"Six days." Carlisle says, and my mouth drops open in shock.

**A/N: Phew. That took longer than I had planned to write! Sorry for the wait guys! Hope it was worth it! I was totally going to have Jazz as a flying monkey, but his golden hair made him more of the lion. :) And, I toyed with making Edward Toto so that he would be there through the whole chappy, or making him the Wizard, but I liked this way better. It is the whole symbolic thing with Jacob having been her first love and who she thought she needed to find. But, all along, she was searching for a way back to Edward. And it fit with the wake-up scene. I was going to say she was out for 3 days, but 6 is better. :) I had toyed with the idea of her waking up and having amnesia, and not remembering Edward. But, I figured that would have just caused a mass riot from the readers. haha. **

**Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed this chappy!**

**~AP**


	8. Gettin' Better All The Time

**A/n: Holy hell! I am back! SO SO SO sorry for the... obscene length of time since I last updated. I hope there are still people out there interested in reading this. I am not sure if I really am going to end this soon, I missed it. I read through all of Life and what I have of this story so far, and i got a renewed love for this group of people. When I originally started writing this chapter, it was a lot diferent than it ended up being this time around. I like this though. I hope ya'll enjoy it!**

BPOV

As I lay in bed, listening to Carlisle telling me everything that happened, all I could do was stare at Edward. He has gone through hell this past week, waiting for me to wake up. After Carlisle assures both of us that I am making a good recovery, he steps outside to give us a few minutes alone together, promising to send everyone else in after a few minutes.

Edward and I just sat there staring at each other for a minute, neither of us speaking. I reach up and carefully wipe a couple tears that escaped his eyes, and smile at him.

"It's OK Edward, I am OK now. You heard Carlisle." I say softly.

"God Bella, I was so scared. The doctors told us that your body was just in shock and you should wake up, but there was a chance that you wouldn't. I… I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't woken up…" He trailed off and I saw the pain in his eyes. He leaned forward and kissed me softly.

"Shh, it's OK baby. Everything is OK now." I ran my hand through his hair and gave him a reassuring smile.

Before we could say anything else, the door opened again, and I looked up to see people walking quietly into my room. It seemed like everyone was there. Alice, Jazz, Rose, Em, Carlisle, and Esme. Renee and Phil were there, Charlie was there. Even Jake walked into the room. I smiled at them all, trying to let them all know I was OK, too. Edward slid his chair as close to my bed as possible, refusing to let go of my hand, but giving them all room to crowd around my bed.

"Oh Bella." Renee was standing next to my head; she leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"You gave us a good scare, kid. Your mom's gona hafta dye her hair now to get rid of all the new grays." Charlie joked, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, and made everyone laugh softly.

"I'm so sorry, Bells." Emmett looked so sad.

"Hey, don't worry about it Em."

"I should have done up the harness for you. It's all my fault you are in here." His eyes were full of tears.

I reached the hand Edward wasn't holding out towards him. "Don't blame yourself. You can't expect someone in the city to come flying down the road. It's OK."

He took my hand, but didn't look as though he felt any better about the situation.

"Bella, darling, if you ever do this to us again, I will hurt you." Rose sniffled a little while she said this, which ruined the effect of what she said.

"Yea. And we should kick your ass for what you were wearing when it happened, too." Alice sniffled out, too. Everyone laughed again.

After about a half hour, a nurse came in to give me some pain medicine and to check my bandages. She let everyone know the drugs would most likely knock me out again, so everyone said their goodbyes for now and headed out, except Edward. He refused to leave my side.

After a few days of constant doctor visits, I was feeling well enough that my pain medicines were lowered and the nurses started pestering me to try to get up and move around. I needed to be up and walking in the halls before they would let me leave. So, Edward started helping me get out of bed some. He was very nervous at first, not letting me walk more than from my bed to a chair in the room, then to the bathroom. But Alice was back at work, and she came up to see me every chance she could. Whenever Edward left to take a shower or get food, Alice got me out of the room. We laughed at Edwards's mother-hen ways, and when he came back carrying a sandwich one day, he almost freaked out when he walked into my room and I wasn't there. Alice and I turned a corner back to my room and saw Edward yelling at a nurse, wanting to know where I was.

"Yo, Eddie, your girl is right here!" Alice called down to him while I laughed.

"Bella!" He ran down to us, ignoring the name he hates being called.

"Edward, it's OK. I need more exercise than walking to the bathroom." I smiled and kept my feet moving back to my room.

Slowly, but surely, I got myself to the point of being released. And 2 weeks after I woke up, my doctors cleared me to go home.

EdPOV

After my Bella finally woke up, it was like a huge weight was lifted off me. I was so worried about her, so terrified that despite what all the doctors said, she was too injured to make it. There were so many bandages. She had been very lucky, and had only a broken arm and 2 broken ribs, but she had road rash on her arms, legs and head. I thought the doctors were a little hasty in telling her she needed to get up and start moving, so we started small with trips just to the chair and bathroom. I almost had a heart attack the day I came back with my lunch and Bella wasn't in her room. I had just gotten to the nurses station not far from her room to ask where she was when Alice was calling to me down the hall with her. I didn't even pay attention to the use of 'Eddie', I was just relieved to see Bella was OK. The guys were planning a welcome home party for Bella, so when I went home to shower before bringing her home, Rose made me take a bad full of clothes that she deemed party acceptable for Bella to wear home. Right now, she is in the bathroom changing into them before we leave. A nurse had just arrived with a wheelchair to take her down to the car. She made her way out of the bathroom with a pout on her face.

"I can't believe Alice and Rose are letting me go home in comfort." Bella cooed as she walked out of the bathroom wearing her pj's. "I expected to have to be fashionable even when getting out of the hospital."

She sat herself back into the wheelchair and I handed her a few of the stuffed animals that had been brought in to her, while I grabbed hold of the flowers, balloons and a couple bags of other things that had been given to her during her stay.

After piling everything into the trunk of Alice's car, I climbed into the front seat and looked back to be sure Bella was OK.

"Edward, stop worrying." She said then stuck her tongue out at me.

"Lookin' good Bells." Jazz smiled at her in the rearview mirror before pulling away from the hospital.

"If only these bruises would finish fading and be gone." She huffed.

It was a quick ride from the hospital to the apartment, and Jazz ran ahead up the stairs with all of Bella's things while I helped her make her way.

"Why the hell did we pick a building with no elevator?!" Bella yelled halfway up the stairs. I could see her starting to sweat with the effort it took to climb these.

"There is no rush, we can stop and rest for a minute if you want to." I gestured at the stairs for her to have a seat.

"No. I want to rest in my apartment, not dirty stairs. My nice cozy couch. Keep it moving!" She grabbed the next railing and kept pulling herself forward.

We slowly made our way and I opened the door to our dark apartment and let Bella shuffle inside before me.

"SURPRISE!" Came the loud shout from the apartment as Bella turned on the lights.

Bella screamed and lost her balance. I quickly grabbed her before she could fall down and hurt herself more. Everyone came forward and gave her hugs, and then ushered her forward to sit on the couch, while I got her a glass of water.

"Oh my god, guys!" I heard her saying in the living room and smirked. "Edward! Why didn't you tell me?"

I laughed at the glare she was giving me when I followed them into the room.

"I was forbidden from telling you."

"So? I'd have warned you." She pouted and took the glass from me.

I smiled around at the apartment. Alice and Rose had gotten a big Welcome Home banner, which was hanging along the wall above our balcony door. I was very happy my Bella was home again, the apartment just wasn't right without her.


End file.
